


Supreme Handmade Iced Edible Local Delights

by BlueshirtBirdie



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Ice Cream Shop AU, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:33:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueshirtBirdie/pseuds/BlueshirtBirdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Maria own an ice cream shop, and Melinda's coworkers are a bit of a handful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

For a little startup ice cream shop, Fury and Hill’s place wasn’t doing half bad. They had only opened a few weeks ago and were staffed by a handful of Fury and Hill’s friends, but they had managed to make a good profit so far. This wasn’t exactly the job Melinda May dreamed of having, but it worked all right for now. It was stable work, and in this economy, she couldn’t exactly complain.

Working with Phil and Victoria wasn’t so bad, either. Phil was a good worker when he wasn’t mooning over Nick, and Victoria seemed to have an extreme sense of dedication to the ice cream shop, so the work definitely got done. It was the down time that Melinda didn’t like. When there were no customers, there was nothing to distract her from Victoria, and she always noticed Phil’s little uncomfortable squirm when he was aware of the tension between them.

“Phil, can you come back here? I need you to do inventory for our newest shipment.” Nick’s voice came from the back of the shop, and Phil left the front as quickly as he could, leaving Melinda and Victoria alone together. _Fantastic_.

“How long’s that guy been there, do you think?” Victoria nudged Melinda, and she bristled a bit from the unexpected touch. Victoria pointed briefly to a blonde man sitting in the corner of the shop, his ice cream long since finished. When Melinda squinted, she could see him deep in concentration, drawing something. That puzzled her a little - usually artists and writers frequented coffeeshops, not ice cream places.

“At least an hour.” Melinda kept her voice low, not wanting to disturb him. “But it’s not like there’s any reason to kick him out. The shop’s slow today.” Victoria was still uncomfortably close to her, and Melinda shifted away a little, not wanting to read into anything Victoria was doing. She told herself that Victoria was always like this with women, even ones she knew. Melinda wasn’t anything special to her.

“I never said we should kick him out. I just think we’ve got our first regular.” Victoria raised her eyebrows, amused. “I’ve definitely seen him here more than once.” Melinda nodded, and was about to ask if she knew his name, but the door to the shop opened, and another customer walked in. He was a tall, dark-skinned man in a red t-shirt, and when Melinda looked more closely, she could see what was written on it - _Green Valley Wildlife Rescue_.

“Hello, sir. What can I get for you?” Melinda took over the cash register for the moment, hoping Victoria would take the hint and scoop the man’s ice cream. Melinda would get at least a few minutes of space to breathe that way.

“Can I have two scoops of butter pecan, please?” The man asked, and Melinda rang up his order, while Victoria fetched his ice cream. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the blonde man had looked up from his drawing, and he was most definitely staring at the wildlife rehab guy.

“I didn’t know this place was here. It’s a nice little place, though,” the man said. “I’m Sam, by the way.” The man stuck out his hand for Melinda to shake, and Melinda balked a little, not used to customers being so friendly. She felt Victoria nudge her from behind, and she reached out a hand to shake Sam’s hand, trying not to let her irritation show on her face.

“Melinda. And this is Victoria.” Melinda shot a pointed look at Victoria, who was standing behind her. Victoria grinned. Melinda was going to have to have a talk with her about getting in her personal space at work. Victoria handed Sam his ice cream, and Sam smiled at both of them.

Once Sam was safely out of earshot, having sat down at the table next to Steve’s, Melinda turned on Victoria, her voice low.

“You need to not get in my personal space at work. It’s distracting and inappropriate.” Melinda kept an eye on the door for customers, but right now, things still seemed pretty slow. Victoria harrumphed a bit.

"I’m like that with everyone. It’s just how I am.”

Phil came back to the front, finished with the inventory.

“You’re not like that with Phil!”

Phil abruptly turned back around, looking like he had walked in on something very awkward.

“Okay, fine, so I’m like that with women. Big deal. You should loosen up a bit.” Victoria bumped her shoulder against Melinda’s, and it was all Melinda could do not to let out a hiss. She morphed her face abruptly into a smile, though, because another customer had just come through the door.

“Oh, hi, Natasha.” Melinda relaxed a little when she saw who it was, although there was a younger woman beside her that she didn’t recognize.

“Hey, Melinda. This is Skye, by the way. She’s my new assistant at the IT place.” Natasha tilted her head at the brown haired woman beside her, who gave a half-smile and a little wave. “I thought I’d show her Dad’s place.” Nick, having heard Natasha’s voice, poked his head out of the back and gave his adopted daughter a little smile, which she returned. “This is my friend Mel, Skye.”

“ -- Melinda, at work.”

“All right, Melinda.” Natasha rolled her eyes a little, but there was still a hint of a smile on her face.

“If you two are having anything, tell me what you want.” Even though she was friends with Natasha, everything seemed to be getting on her nerves right now, mostly because of Victoria. She couldn’t wait for her shift to be done.

“Just me. I’ll have one scoop of chocolate, if that’s okay?” Skye looked to Natasha for verification, seeming a little nervous.

“It’s fine. My treat.” Natasha gave Skye a soft nod, and Skye relaxed a little. Natasha paid, and Victoria handed Skye her ice cream, muttering a “hey, Romanoff” as she did so.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before the shop closed, and as soon as the crew closed up, Melinda got the hell out of there. Victoria was right behind her, though, and Melinda stopped for a moment, because the other woman obviously wanted something.

“What do you want, Victoria?” Melinda took a deep breath, willing herself to keep calm for just a few more minutes. She needed to wind down, alone, and Victoria wasn’t making this easy. When she saw Victoria’s face, Victoria didn’t look angry, just a little hurt. Maybe even worried.

“You seemed off today, that’s all. Is something wrong?” Victoria was being genuine with her, which was nice, but Melinda didn’t want to talk about this right now.

“You kept bugging me while I was on shift, that’s what’s wrong. Focus on your work, and don’t flirt with me because you’re bored.” Melinda knew Victoria hadn’t technically been flirting today, but she had definitely done that earlier this week, and it was driving Melinda nuts. “I need to go home. See you tomorrow.”

Victoria’s lips tightened, but she didn’t follow Melinda. “See you tomorrow, Mel.”

“ _Melinda_.”

“You’re not at work, technically!” Victoria shouted after her, but Melinda kept walking, having lost her patience. She wasn’t going to leave this job anytime soon, but if Victoria kept acting like this, it would be tempting. The last thing she wanted to think about at work was her personal life.

_Tomorrow better be busy._


	2. Chapter 2

The local ice cream shop was quickly becoming Steve Rogers’ favorite place. The employees didn’t mind that he stayed there for hours, and one of them - Steve was pretty sure his name was Phil - thought it was ridiculously cool that Steve was an artist. Steve liked to sit by the window and sketch the passersby, but today, he was doing something different.

The last time he had been in the ice cream shop, a man had sat down over at the next table, and he had definitely caught Steve’s eye. Steve hadn’t been able to work up the courage to talk to him, of course, and he doubted he’d see him again, but he kept thinking about him all the same. He was drawing what he remembered of the man now - a tall, dark skinned man with black hair and a wildlife rescue t-shirt.

“D’you mind if I sit here? It’s kinda crowded today.”

Steve jolted when he realized someone was addressing him, and when he realized who it was, he quickly set his hands over his sketchbook, blocking the drawing from view.

“Uh -- sure.” The words felt clumsy as they tumbled out of Steve’s mouth, and Steve prayed that the man hadn’t seen what he had been drawing. God, that was embarrassing. The man sat down across from him and smiled, digging into his ice cream. 

“I’m Sam Wilson, by the way. I think I saw you last time you were here. You were in this same seat, weren’t you?” Sam offered his hand to shake, and Steve panicked. He finally lifted up a shaking hand to shake Sam’s, his other hand discreetly flipping his sketchbook over. Sam shook his hand, and didn’t comment on the sketchbook, if he noticed it. 

“Yeah, I was. I draw here a lot. My name’s Steve Rogers.” Steve had never found himself so tongue tied, and he hoped he wasn’t coming off like a complete idiot. Sam smiled and nodded.

“Never seen someone draw at an ice cream shop before. I guess it has a nice view, though.” Sam gestured at the street, and Steve nodded, definitely looking at Sam and not the street.

“It does.” Steve realized he was watching Sam while he was eating his ice cream, which was kind of creepy. He looked back down at the table, not exactly sure where to look now that his sketchbook was flipped upside down. 

“Can I see what you’re drawing? I got a glimpse of it last time I was here, and you look like you’re really good at it,” Sam said, and Steve balked a little. He hesitated, and then nodded, flipping over the sketchbook so it was facing himself first, and then turning to a page that didn’t have a drawing of the cute guy in front of him on it.

“I sketch passersby, most of the time.” Steve held out the sketchbook to show Sam, not wanting to risk letting him hold it, in case Sam turned the page. Sam raised his eyebrows when he saw the drawings, impressed.

“Those are pretty good. Are you an art student?”

Steve nodded. “I’ve been in school for a long time now. I just keep going, I guess.”

“Nothing wrong with that. I’m out of school, but I work at the wildlife rehab center across town. If you ever get the urge to draw something nonhuman, feel free to come on over. I can show you the birds.” Sam finished his ice cream, and gave Steve another smile. It took him a moment to respond, because it kind of threw him for a loop that the cute guy had just asked him to come visit.

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Maybe I’ll come around soon.” Steve managed a small smile, hoping he didn’t look too nervous, and Sam grinned.

“Great, I can show you all of the birds. If you draw one, though, I need you to draw my bestie. His name’s Redwing, and he’s a hawk,” Sam said, and Steve nodded.

“I will totally, absolutely draw your bestie.” Steve was aware he was still gaping a little, but Sam seemed too pleased to notice. 

Finally, Sam stood up. “In the meantime, I’ve gotta get back to work. That was my break. I hope I’ll see you soon, though.”

“I’ll stop by,” Steve said, nodding fervently, and he gave a little wave when Sam did. He watched him as he made his way out the door, a little starstruck, but mostly relieved that he hadn’t seen the drawing.

When he was sure Sam was gone, Steve flipped his sketchbook over again, and turned to the page with Sam on it. He smiled to himself, knowing exactly what he was going to draw now. By the time he was finished, there was a little hawk on Sam’s shoulder. He hoped Redwing would approve.


End file.
